Which I did.
And that was a good thing and a bad thing.
Bad that I had to travel in a compartment that was full of people who probably belong to the cult that does not believe in taking showers. You know how they are? Happy with each others BO? Plus, for them, I think traveling in the Metro is a sport. After all they have this uncanny knack of stomping on your feet even if you are the only person in the entire train. And they can spot a speck of space from a mile that can squeeze their frame of a 1000 kilos and 300 KMs in that speck. And they rush to it. Only to realise that the other person in competition is 3000 kilos!
Good that I got a session of HIIT done. I mean what else do you call the excursion in the Mumbai Metro where every other person reeks of I dont know what and is adamant on crushing your feet? And like every HIIT regimen, there is enough heat (thats to a million bodies packed together in a space meant for a handful) that you sweat all the fat out!
Oh when you get out of the Metro, the rickshaw guys? They will ensure that you continue the work out by refusing to go where you have to.
Apart from this, I attended a shoot for a music video. Done at EXTREMELY low budgets. And thus, a million lessons. And that's what I will talk about in the next section - lesson of the day!
And what did I learn today?
So I learnt how to do a cheap film.
And apart from that I learnt the following three lessons. You can also read these as three life lessons for people in their 20s, if they wish to have a better life!
A. You need to have a talent that you can monetise.
You need to learn it as soon as possible.
At 35, its impossible for me to learn a new thing. But if you are in your 20s, PLEASE go learn a skill that you can monetise. Paint, draw, sing, play an instrument, code, learn magic, dance, do something that allows you to not depend on traditional sources of income.
B. You need to do things that scale. And compound.
For example, if I manage operations at a company, what I do there, doesnt scale. On the other hand, if I create a book, if its good, I can earn royalties for the rest of my life.
So between trying to make ends meet by working on a safe job and doing something that can potentially give you money for the rest of your life, I think you ought to pick the later.
I made the mistake of not doing that. And if I can turn back time, I will club lessons 1 and 2 above. In fact I have started to believe that all that advice about travel and making merry and fun and all that in your 20s? Its crap! You ought to make money or gain monetizable skills. More on this in some more days.
C. Invest in relationships
Thing is, as am growing old, I realise that I dont have any meaningful relationships - the kinds that stay with me and help me when I need help. Lemme give an example. In the shoot today, the guy who was shooting needed a studio. He could curry a favour and get that studio for cheap. One of my friends, he can ask a million people to get him a discount on literally anything that he wants to buy. I on the other hand cant think of a single person who would want to help me. And there are people that I have literally begged. To give me work and what not. And yet they havent.
So, the lesson is, you MUST invest in relationships while you can. With time these relationships will become deeper and better and will give you infinite returns. Dont be me who thought that its ok to be eccentric and the talent would pay of at some point in time in future. It may. But future is not really the best play to live, if you ask me.
Of course, your life. You choose if these are applicable to you. I can only talk from experience and hindsight.
***
So thats it for the day. What are the few things that you learnt today? Please do share.
PS: Love this post! And I use way too many Ands. And I need to control it. And with that, its over and out.
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